Friday, July 3, 2009

Back in the saddle...

As of Thursday, July 2nd, after a three month break, I was back in the saddle again. I took a three month break from riding to join my wife on a diet. It was a very effective, low calorie, low carbohydrate diet, which was contradictory to the requirements for cycling. It lasted 10 weeks, and I have no regrets since I lost 15 pounds as a result.

On Thursday morning I woke up around 5:30 AM. I dawned my Cool Breeze cycling jersey, PAA bib shorts and gloves, and headed into the kitchen for a pre-ride breakfast. By 6:15 AM I was on the road. I decided ahead of time to start off with an easy 10 miles to ease back into riding. After the first mile, I felt my quads groaning and knew I had made the right choice.

After riding for roughly four miles, my legs finally warmed up. The ride was still a challenge after so much time had passed, but at this point it was at least tolerable. Overall it took roughly 45 minutes to complete the ride, after which I showered, ate a second breakfast, and drove off to work.